1. BORING BACKSTORIES

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It's really weird facing the class of strangers. It feels like show and tell...only we're showing and telling each other. After the last boy spoke everyone now has their spirits dampened, he gave great detail into the foster care system and indicated that he was abused.


And now it's mine and Dan's turn.


"What are your names?" Our tutor asks, even though she knows. But I guess rest of the class doesn't. "Clara and Dan" Dan awkwardly mumbles while one of the druggies bursts out laughing.


"Oi! Jay. Show some respect they listened to your sob story." Druggies sob story is that he has depression and 'needs' weed to calm him down. But unlike other pot heads Jay is a mummies boy...and actually still living with her. She doesn't take any of his shit and he's proud that he doesn't have a criminal record. I mean...I'd hate to break it to him but weed is still very much illegal in the UK.


"Sorry." He mumbles with a massive smile attached to his face. He's trying to talk this chav up. She wears one of those massive woolly pastel pink jackets, I'm pretty sure she's the only person who still goes on MySpace. The girls says she has no friends but every word that comes out of her mouth is 'me and my mate Alisha' or something. Her name is Cherry.


I know I shouldn't be the one to judge but...we're all equally fucked up in this place.


"You two are the first married students I've had the pleasure to teach." For fucks sake. As if she just told the whole class.


"Wait what?" The chav laughs in total disbelief.


"She's my wife..." Dan awkwardly says while I point to my wedding ring. I've done this so many times that it's almost boring now.


"Do you two live with each other?" Both me and Dan laugh nodding our heads. I mean, it would be fucking weird if we was married and didn't live with each other.


"You must both be newly weds, right?" I shake my head. I mean the truth is disturbing as it is unbelievable.


"Me and Dan went away on a trip to India with our parents when we was twelve. At a reception party of our friends wedding, we was talking to the priest and Dan joked about marrying me when we're older. And because everyone was having a really good time and tipsy Dan's sister suggested that we should do a fake ceremony...and it turns out that the priest does child weddings...and we got married legally, but we didn't know that until the next day when he turned up at our hotel room with a marriage certificate." The tutors mouth drops open.


"How did your parents react?"


"Both of our parents was disgusted, not with us...because it wasn't our fault, but the priest. When we came back over here my parents told the police straight away. Since England has connections with India because of Queen Victoria...the police told their police and got him arrested for marrying foreign children. The law was good to us. A few months later a policewoman suggested that we get a divorce, however that would've been complicated in the courtroom because of morals...and Clara realised that she was pregnant. So yeah..." basically a dodgy Indian priest married us without our consent and then I got pregnant so a divorce would've been super hard.


"Pregnant?" I nod my head.


"Twelve weeks after getting married I found out I was pregnant...all because I fainted during PE. I mean after that our lives have been insanely average." I nervously laugh.


"How old is your daughter?" The tutor asks.


"Lana is six..." the tutor makes an 'aw' sound while I nod my head.


"Was it a normal birth?" The tutor points to her lady parts while I cringe.


"No...I had a c-section."


"Have you guys ever planned to have more kids?" Yup.


"Hasn't every married couple?" Dan awkwardly laughs while I avoid eye contact with everyone. I mean we are talking about our sex life in a roundabout way.


"Good answer. Anyway, I have to break you both up. We don't want no distractions. Dan sits on the left side and Clara on the right." I roll my eyes backwards the tutor evilly laughs.


I then sits besides a group of bitchy girls while Dan sits besides these weird gaming nerds. Both of us exchanged confused faces.


"Right!" The tutor then shouts after clapping her hands together. "First lesson is free writing. Write whatever interests you." Interests me?


"For instance, Jay you can talk about drug use. Alisha you can talk about being a blogger. Brandon can talk about your PlayStation thing. Dan and Clara can talk about their marriage..."


She then makes everyone pass around two lined pieces of paper. While all the girls bicker and I hear Dan laugh...I decide to actually do work. I don't write about Dan. I write about Lana. I know it's cliché but I'm a mother and my daughter interests me.


I write about her interests, how she looks exactly like her father. How I will do everything and anything for her. She's a good kid, and I'm not being biased. I get complimented all the time for her. She befriends anyone and everyone, she stands up for kids getting bullied. I wish I was like her when I was younger. Maybe life would've been different.


"Fuck." I mumble under my breath putting my palm on top of my stomach. I get these weird pains, the doctor said that it's normal...probably the baby wanting food.


"Are you okay?" A girl, who too disassociates herself away from the chav bitches, asks looking concerned.


"Yeah...I think so." I whisper feeling a little nauseous.


"Are you sure?" She smiles.


"Yeah. I'm having really bad period cramps." I've literally never suffered period cramps in my whole entire life. I have no idea why I didn't just tell her that I'm pregnant. Sooner or later when I take off my hoodie it's going to be obvious I am.


"Do you want a tablet?" She asks while I shake my head.


"Thanks for the offer though. I'm kinda into that bohemian no pill life..." it's 2004 and I just said I'm into a 'no pill life'. I'm meant to be impressing people and getting friends! Not fucking pushing them away, god she's going to think Lana is unvaccinated or something. Oh god.


"Ride on" thankfully she smiles, which suddenly makes me become uninterested with her. Not ride on! Tell me that I'm wrong for having a 'no pill' lifestyle. Pills are good, and so are vaccinations and shit.


"What are you doing your thing on?" I point to her assessment thing.


She shrugs. "Leonardo DiCaprio. What are you doing yours on?" Of course she would. Leo is every girl's dream guy at the moment, it's been this way for a couple of years now! I don't believe the hype for him will ever fade. I totally can see myself still crushing over him in ten years, he has a pretty face.


"My little girl." With that she makes an 'aw' sound while I nod my head. I know I'm biased, but Lana is awe worthy.

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